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PHILADELPHIA -- All in all, it was another good day for Senators goalies. All of them.

Robin Lehner was grinning and joking while waiting in his dressing room stall at Wells Fargo Center for teammates to fix him refreshments, his reward for stoning them in the practice-ending ritual known as 'Juice Boy.'

"Robin was good today," Erik Condra said after handing Lehner his Gatorade.

A few moments later, coach Paul MacLean was announcing that Ben Bishop would be the starter for Saturday's noon-time game against the Philadelphia Flyers. So Bishop was pleased, too.

In between, Craig Anderson spoke to the media for the first time since suffering a sprained ankle Feb. 21 against the New York Rangers. While doing so, he was beaming and cracking funnies, too.

"I can skate. I can stop, I can push. I can do a lot of things that a forward can do," said Anderson, who had just participated in his second consecutive day of practice -- albeit with limitations. "I haven't taken the step yet to see if I can do what a goalie can do. I think that's going to be the next step, to see how it is (Saturday), see if I can start getting into the butterfly at all."

A forward, eh? Plan on returning to the lineup at a different position?

"I don't think you want me out there," said Anderson. "I'm pretty good for a beer leaguer, but that's about it."

But we did just see you in the crease, stopping pucks.

"I wanted to get in there and see if I still had it," said Anderson. "Stopped all seven I saw, so I felt pretty good."

So you're good to face the Flyers then, right?

"We'll see," Anderson joked.

In fact, there is no definite timetable for the return to action of the NHL's leader in save percentage (.952) and owner of the second best goals-against average (1.49). At least not one that is being revealed.

"Every day seems to be getting lots better," said Anderson. "I'm just trying to do everything I can to get myself back.

"Nothing been set in stone yet. We just take it day by day. The progress has been outstanding every day. Every day I can do more and more out there. That's where we're at right now."

Of course, it's not like the Senators are floundering without Anderson, either. Bishop came on in relief to beat the New York Rangers, then stopped 70 of 73 shots and four of five in a shootout to post wins as a starter against the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs. And in Boston Thursday night, Lehner made 44 saves but was beaten on a couple of change of pace shots that barely made it over the line -- including the overtime winner by Patrice Bergeron that Lehner might have grabbed with his bare hand first had he been able to get it free from his blocker, which was stuck to the Bruins centre, a little quicker.

"(Chris Phillips) was wondering if either of their two goals made it to the back of the net," Daniel Alfredsson said following the 2-1 loss to the Eastern Conference's best team.

Anderson will gear up and skate again early Saturday morning.

"Just a matter of trying to stay in shape as best I can, make sure that when my ankle does feel 100%, physically I'm ready to go," he said.

Meanwhile, the Senators can move into a temporary tie for the conference lead with Montreal by defeating the Flyers, which they'll try to do by once again avoiding a run-and-gun confrontation.

Their approach this season has remained the same. Rather than rely too much on a shutdown defensive pairing or a shutdown line, they have turned into a shutdown team.

They have allowed just nine goals in their last six games. Of their 21 games, they have held the opposition to two or fewer goals 16 times. They've given up three when the third has been an empty netter and on another occasion when it has come in overtime. They gave up another three in a victory, and four the deflating night they lost Erik Karlsson.

The only other letdown was Bishop's first start, when he gave up five and the team allowed another empty netter.

Anderson says statistics can be deceiving.

"For the most part, all 60-65 (goalies) in the league can make two or three big saves a night," said Anderson. "When you get beyond that, that's when things start to go a little south, that's when you start giving up goals.

"Right now, we're giving up a lot of shots, but Bish and Robbie have come in and made those 3-4 big saves we need. I think a better statistic would probably be looking at those game-saving stops or looking at scoring chances against, as opposed to the overall shots."

Almost halfway through the season, the Senators are a shutdown team with very good goaltending -- no matter who's between the pipes. That formula should keep them in the thick of things.

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Solid day for Senators goaltending trio

PHILADELPHIA -- All in all, it was another good day for Senators goalies. All of them.

Robin Lehner was grinning and joking while waiting in his dressing room stall at Wells Fargo Center for teammates to fix him refreshments, his reward for stoning them in the practice-ending ritual known as 'Juice Boy.'

"Robin was good today," Erik Condra said after handing Lehner his Gatorade.

A few moments later, coach Paul MacLean was announcing that Ben Bishop would be the starter for Saturday's noon-time game against the Philadelphia Flyers. So Bishop was pleased, too.